Heading West : Palatka, FL

 

Chris:  Heading West

Day 1:  St. Augustine to Palatka, Florida.   We are traveling with my friend Anne from Savannah.  I met Anne when we met up in JFK Airport headed to Botswana for a three year volunteer assignment.  Both school teachers, we headed off to vacation during school breaks every chance we got.  We had so many camping adventures in game parks, at Victoria Falls and the Okavango Delta.  Anne gave us a fabulous tour of Savannah before we headed for St. Augustine.

I would have really loved to explore this city and visit the Fountain of Youth.  Instead, I'll just act youthful.   As much as I love the beach and all things related to coastal living it was a relief to bike out of the city and head west.

I do love observing the ordinary life of people going about their business.  I passed a home with a homemade sign that said breakfast was served out of their home between 7:30 and 11:30 a.m.  If only we had known.  It's such a dilemma:  stop to talk to the man selling boiled peanuts out of his yard or press on.  

I passed by fields and fields of potatoes in the county that has bragging rights as Florida's potato capital.  A peacock serenaded me from the side of the road.  I took a little video footage of a big machine in a field with about 10 workers walking behind and tossing cabbages into a truck.  

David is no longer allowed to tell random strangers that "my wife is riding to San Diego."  If I make it to the halfway point somewhere in Texas his restraining order will be lifted.  At this point it's just embarrassing.

Two important things to note about this picture:  my awesome hair.  And Jess, it's not you.  It's me.  You give a fine haircut.   Second:  I biked over that bridge behind us.